The WEC calendar is set to change for the second time this season as the ongoing conflict and tension in the middle east has put questions marks over safety at the Qatar 1812 km and the eight hours of Bahrain.The FIA WEC announced earlier in the year that the race in Qatar will be rescheduled to take place in October but now there are discussions being held over its place on the calendar entirely.Last weekend in Brazil contingency plans were presented to the teams to replace both Qatar and Bahrain races with 2 six hour races in Barcelona and Monza and these changes are expected to be presented to the world motor sport council in a meeting set to be in late July. If these changes happen the race in Monza will take place on the same weekend originally scheduled for Bahrain on 7th November and the race in Barcelona will take place on October 18th.
Schedule clashes
These changes solve WEC's scheduling issues but they create serious problems for the 19 drivers competing in both championships (WEC and GT world challenge) scheduled to take place on October 18th. The WEC will be racing on The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya at the same time the GT world challenge season finale takes place in Portimão creating some serious clashes. Reportedly the SRO motor sports group who run many racing series like the GT world challenge have been considering moving the race to Saturday giving the drivers who are set to compete in Barcelona on the Sunday an opportunity to participate in both races
Championship consequences
These rumoured changes won't just affect the drivers but they will have detrimental effects on the championship.This is because the new races proposed will be shorter due to circuit restrictions which will mean fewer points on the table.In the World Endurance Championship points are awarded for the top ten finishers with the exact number scaling according to race duration so for the ten hour Qatar 1812 km the winner will receive 38 points which is the same for the eight hours of Bahrain and with these races being replaced with two six hour races there will only be 25 points available for the winner and less points for the top ten in each race.As these races will be happening towards the end of the season this could directly affect the results of the championship as there will be fewer opportunities for teams and drivers to close the gap to their rivals in the standings.
An announcement may come in the next coming weeks on the proposed changes.
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